


Heat and Harassment

by deprough



Series: Dincember 2020 [3]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Dincember, Dincember 2020, F/M, Frontier Justice, Gen, Mentions of Death, mentions of criminals and crime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27861953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deprough/pseuds/deprough
Summary: Mando leads Corrie and Koda to a group of the criminals, but Koda can't keep his mind on what they're doing.
Relationships: Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV) & Din Djarin, Din Djarin/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Dincember 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032882
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Heat and Harassment

**Author's Note:**

> This is part three of Dincember. You'll want to read the series in order so that everything makes sense.
> 
> 12/4/2020 Dincember prompt - Hot Chocolate

“So… what if you’re drowning, and there’s a hole in the ice, but it’s  _ just _ too small for your helmet but big enough for your head?” Koda asked.

“I’d drown,” Mando replied with the strained tones of someone who’d been asked this exact question a million times but was continuing to answer it politely out of a desire to promote a good working environment. Corrie debated telling the deputy to stop, but the gurts came over the hill and she focused on scanning the valley below them. Besides, it was amusing.

“So, not even to have the best hot chocolate in the galaxy?” Koda pressed. “Because Brama makes the most  _ amazing _ hot chocolate you’ve ever tasted.”

The soft sigh from the Mandalorian made Corrie wonder how much longer his patience would last. “I wouldn’t remove my helmet and violate my Creed for a  _ beverage _ , no matter how good.”

_ Probably not much longer _ , Corrie thought as she hid a grin.

“There’s nothing that could make you remove the helmet?” Koda asked.

“Smoke.”

“You smoke?” Her deputy’s face twisted in disgust. 

“No, there’s smoke,” he said, pointing. Corrie had spotted it just before he pointed, and already had the macrobinocs aimed at the gray smudge. She followed it down into the trees, but couldn’t see anything.

“Let’s check it,” she said, nudging Cursehead into motion. The balky gurt wheezed in protest but started down the slope and she heard the other two following. 

They were halfway across the valley when Koda said, “So what if you had to give mouth to mou--”

“Drop it,” Corrie said, her tone allowing no argument. She’d been enjoying the quiet, and Koda needed his mind on potentially finding criminals rather than on the one exact scenario where Mando would show his face.

They left the mounts tied to trees at the bottom of the next hill and waddled through the knee-deep snow into the densest part of the woods. Walking was easier in the forest, where the snow hadn’t fallen so thickly. They paused so that Mando could close the baby’s bassinet. Then the three of them moved quietly, and Corrie once again was forced to note that the Mandalorian seemed good at  _ everything _ .  _ Well _ , she thought tartly,  _ everything but parenting. _ He had protection down, but given the fit that he threw every time she suggested that he leave the child in Niua’s care, or even Brama’s, he needed to learn to chill a little, too.

She put those thoughts from her head and continued forward, and the three of them crawled the last few yards on their bellies while the bassinet waited behind a thick tree. There were three humanoids around the fire, and Corrie recognized all of them as escapees. She glanced at their bounty hunter and nodded. He signalled that he’d take the middle one, she should take the one on the right, and that Koda should get the left-most one. They each signalled their agreement, then opened fire.

It was quick and bloody. They were all very dangerous criminals, and the Hutt had refused to even send another transport for them. None of them surrendered, and none of them were spared.

~ * ~ * ~

“What about a straw?” 

Koda’s question came after three miles of silence. Corrie blinked at him; her mind had been drifting over how to return the stolen items they found. It hurt that she couldn’t repay people for the assaults and slaughtered livestock that had resulted in Libu from the criminals. Getting three of them at once had lifted her spirits, even if part of her regretted the necessity of execution. “What?” she asked.

“Mando, could you have the hot chocolate with a straw?” Koda asked.

Mando’s gurt stopped. Corrie followed suit and turned to watch the show. When Koda faced him, Mando said, “I’m only going to say this once more. My Creed forbids me from removing my helmet in front of another.” Koda opened his mouth and Mando raised his finger to silence him. “My eating and drinking habits are not up for discussion. Speculation on how I sleep, bathe, or kriff are likewise off-limits. My Creed doesn’t exist for you to poke holes in, and I don’t follow it to see how far I can bend it or break it. Is that clear?”

Koda blinked, then nodded. “Sure, man. Sure.

“Great.” He clicked the gurt into motion and rode on. Corrie let him catch up to her, and then she fell into pace with him. Koda followed a few paces behind.

“He didn’t mean it poorly.” She glanced at him, grateful that the dream-version of him she’d concocted was completely different from the real thing. It had helped today go more smoothly. “He just hasn’t been around long enough, or experienced religious folks.”

“I know how he meant it.” Mando didn’t lower his voice as far as she had, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Koda shrink in on himself. “It’s why I didn’t take offense.”

Corrie thought he’d taken a little offense, but she appreciated his attempts at peacemaking. “Mom’s going to offer you hot chocolate. Should I tell her not to bother?”

He thought about it, or probably spent a moment crafting a polite response. “If she won’t be offended by me taking it in my room.”

“Not at all,” Corrie assured him. “She’s just going to want to know later if you liked it.”

He nodded. “Then I’d love to have some. So would the kid.” 

Back at the house, Brama had dinner and hot cocoa ready, and everyone sat down to eat. Koda joined them, as he usually did, and with Mando at the table, feeding his child, they were crowded. By silent agreement, they didn’t talk about the day’s death, focusing on what the kids and Brama had done today. 

Once the baby had passed out his father’s arms, Corrie brought a tray of food with a cup of hot chocolate up to the room for Mando. He laid the child in his bassinet and closed the lid, then took the tray from her. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome. Good night,” she said, and closed the door. She started to leave, but heard a thunk through the door that sounded exactly like a helmet might sound when set down on the dresser her great-grandfather had carved by hand. She leaned close to the door and heard a soft sniff, then a gentle slurp. “Damn,” a familiar but unmodulated voice said appreciatively, “that  _ is _ good hot chocolate.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, thanks for reading. If you'd like daily updates on my writing, as well as blogs and reblogs abotu whatever catches my fancy, you can follow me on Tumblr @deprough. Also, I post almost daily excerpts of my writing as accountability, so if you want sneak peaks of what I'm doing, come follow me.


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